Aging agave attracts admirers to see rare bloom

An agave plant, also known as a century plant is in bloom in front of Smithfields Chicken-N-Bar-B-Q on Gumbranch Road. These plants only bloom once every 20 years or so, then they dry up and die. Little spawnlings are left at the base to carry on the next generation. While they are a native species to this area, it's pretty rare to see one actually flowering.

Chuck Beckley/The Daily News

By MATTHEW ADKINS Daily News Staff

Published: Sunday, July 21, 2013 at 10:30 AM.

After surviving nearly two decades of sweltering summer days and frigid winter nights, an agave plant in front of
Smithfield
’s Barbecue at
1105 Gum Branch Road
finally is in full bloom.

The plant also is known as a century plant and American aloe.

The agave lives 10 to 30 years, depending on environmental conditions. It has a spread of spiny gray-green leaves of up to 14 feet long, each with a heavy spike at the tip capable of piercing dense materials.

Debbie Riedl, co-manager at
Smithfield
’s, has been with the business for 12 years and has watched the plant during its transformation.

“I noticed it hit a growth spurt about a month ago,” Riedl said. “When the middle started to sprout up, I said to myself, ‘What is that?’ It didn’t take long until I saw the little things coming out. It looked like something from Jack and the Beanstalk.”

When it reaches maturity, the flowering stem at the center of the plant rapidly shoots toward the sky, standing up to 26 feet. A single cluster of yellow flowers is produced and then the plant dies about a month after the bloom. After its death, shoots growing at the base of the plant are free to begin a new cycle.

According to the U.S. Native Plant Database, the plant is native to the dry areas of
Mexico
and southern
United States
. The agave
Americana
is usually cultivated as an ornamental plant for drought tolerant, desert style gardens. Due to a high concentration of fructose inside its core, another variety found chiefly in
Mexico
, agave tequilana, is fermented, distilled and used as the base ingredient of tequila.

After surviving nearly two decades of sweltering summer days and frigid winter nights, an agave plant in front of Smithfield’s Barbecue at 1105 Gum Branch Road finally is in full bloom.

The plant also is known as a century plant and American aloe.

The agave lives 10 to 30 years, depending on environmental conditions. It has a spread of spiny gray-green leaves of up to 14 feet long, each with a heavy spike at the tip capable of piercing dense materials.

Debbie Riedl, co-manager at Smithfield’s, has been with the business for 12 years and has watched the plant during its transformation.

“I noticed it hit a growth spurt about a month ago,” Riedl said. “When the middle started to sprout up, I said to myself, ‘What is that?’ It didn’t take long until I saw the little things coming out. It looked like something from Jack and the Beanstalk.”

When it reaches maturity, the flowering stem at the center of the plant rapidly shoots toward the sky, standing up to 26 feet. A single cluster of yellow flowers is produced and then the plant dies about a month after the bloom. After its death, shoots growing at the base of the plant are free to begin a new cycle.

According to the U.S. Native Plant Database, the plant is native to the dry areas of Mexico and southern United States. The agave Americana is usually cultivated as an ornamental plant for drought tolerant, desert style gardens. Due to a high concentration of fructose inside its core, another variety found chiefly in Mexico, agave tequilana, is fermented, distilled and used as the base ingredient of tequila.

For many visiting the restaurant, seeing a mature Agave in full bloom is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“It’s pretty wild to see something like this just out here on the side of the road,” said Robert Gruber, a regular patron at Smithfield’s. “It’s actually a little bit scary when you get right up on it. I get the feeling it’s going to shoot a vine out and suck me in or something. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Gruber is just one of hundreds who have already traveled to the restaurant to see the rare bloom according to Smithfield’s manager Jimmie Montieth.

“People love it. That’s all they’ve talked about for the past three months. Probably 500 or 600 people have stopped through here to take pictures,” Montieth said. “I’ve been here 15 years and this is the first time I’ve seen it bloom. I didn’t know it could do that.

“It’s the talk of the town right now,” Montieth said.

Although knowledge of its exact origin has been lost over time, Smithfield’s agave is believed to have been planted many years ago during the building’s original construction. Riedl explains that the restaurant intends to continue the tradition by cultivating the new sprouts once the original plant completes its life cycle.